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While women in technology have made great strides, they still face many barriers, which is the focus of a comprehensive infographic from IT Manager Daily. Percentage of women earning IT-related degrees has declined Over the past 25 years, the proportion of females earning tech degrees has steadily dropped from 37 percent in 1985 to 18 percent in 2009.

One of the biggest challenges, according to many in the industry, may be a
public-image problem. Most young people … simply don’t come into contact with computer scientists and engineers in their daily lives, and they don’t really understand what they do. And to the extent that Americans do, “they think of Dilbert,” explains Jeffrey Wilcox, vice president of engineering at Lockheed Martin. (“Dilbert” being shorthand, of course, for boring, antisocial, cubicle-contained drudgery, conducted mostly by awkward men in short-sleeve dress shirts — a bit like “Office Space,” only worse.)

Much of the recent discussion around women in the workplace has centered on pay inequality between men and women, with one popular statistic often cited: On average, women earn only 77 cents per dollar, compared to their male counterparts. But a new infographic from the website topmanagementdegrees.com titled “Why Women Don’t Make Less Than Men” takes a closer look at that well-touted claim and examines five factors impacting pay inequality: occupations, positions, education, job tenure and hours worked per week. According to the infographic below, when you factor in those issues, the wage gap between men and women shrinks to a nickel, with women earning 95 cents per dollar, compared to men. Choice of Occupation When it comes to careers, women often choose the lower-paying route, such as health and education, while men opt for more lucrative options, mainly in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). A recent article in The Daily Beast explained the wage gap this way: “Much of the wage gap can be explained away by simply taking account of college majors. Women, far more than men, appear to be drawn to jobs in the caring professions; and men are more likely to turn up in people-free zones. In the pursuit of happiness, men and women appear to take different paths.” Working Moms vs. Working Dads The infographic also found that women with children under 18 had a much harder road to advancement compared to men, with 51 percent of working mothers saying it was harder to advance, compared to 16 percent of men. Working moms also face career disruptions -- such as reduced work hours, taking time off, quitting a job or turning down a promotion -- at a higher rate than men. Closing the Gap According to Randstad’s latest Employee Engagement study, women want more visible female leadership and family-friendly work policies in order to advance to leadership levels, which can in turn close the wage gap. Some highlights regarding what companies can do to promote women in the workplace:

Women Powering Business is pleased to introduce “Women Powering Technology,” a six-part series that takes a closer look at the lack of female representation in the IT industry. Topics in the series will include: What impact does the gender gap have on the IT industry overall? What’s the origin of the gender gap? How can tech companies attract and retain female talent? What are some barriers that women in tech face?